zach

u guys keep it up and chad will be fishing w/ us in october instead of wearing his penguin suit. being a fisherman if they're not "legal size" don't we just kiss them and throw them back? eventually though we all get one that has to come w/ us and i think chad must have used "a big lure" to get this one. just don't girth this keeper or you may get slapped and then she'll swim away w/ your "lure" and you;ll never see it again.

chad- you could fish both tournaments but you most likely wouldn't be getting married if you do that.

can toothy knock it back a week? i want to do both just like last year even though waneta was not kind to me. i remember the clicker going off at waneta and me thinking i had the winner that ended up being a 20lb carp snagged in the tail that put up a heck of a fight.

yeah but i think that taking it outta the water made a tougher release. the little ones took right off, this bigger one took me a solid 10 minutes of working it to get her to swim off even though i only had her out of the water for a very short time. i like to think about how long i can hold my breath and not keep them in the air any longer than that. she did go, but it had me rethinking the time out of water. who's gonna post the next 50"? it won't be me for another 15 years at this rate.

thanks guys! i have been chasing that magical 50" mark since i started fishing muskies in 1995 when i got my first musky. so "old man" i was stuck below 50" for 3 decades also. came close a few times w/ some 48's, and a 49" but no cigar. yes- that is a sleeping bag, lantern, spot light and 2 headlamps in the boat w/ me along w/ some berry punch which i must have drank a gallon of. i have noticed if i drive down and try to fish that same day often i am too tired to safely make it home w/ my eyes open, so i drive down the night before and night fish until i am too tired and sleep in the boat if its not raining. it was funny b/c when i accidently slept in until 8am a woman in a kayak comes up to my anchored boat and scared the crap outta me by saying "hello? is anyone in there" i shot up like a rocket, scared to death b/c i was sleeping so peacefully w/ the sound of the waves hitting the boat and from no where here's this voice! needless to say i was up for good. the lure i got this good one on has been super hot for me this year w/ 8 fish on it! so i haven't conquered fishing it at all b/c next time out i will probally get skunked nitro, so its not me i just have a hot lure. as for the bills winning? we will just have to wait to see about it. the lesson i learned on this fish is to always have those hook cutters close to all your landing tools b/c i had to cut all 3 hooks out of that fish. the lure was sideways entirely in its mouth and looking at those teeth there wasn't a chance of me sticking my hand in there or pliers reaching the hooks good enough to get them out. bty it was pretty tough holding onto the rod and netting it myself, i got her on the first pass by and felt lucky i did it quickly. i am usually decent at netting them my self but i got alittle nervous trying to net it w/ that heavy net all alone. she is still in that lake, just alittle more educated after seeing my ugly mug and getting stung by some hooks. i hope everyone gets a chance at a good one like this as i concider myself lucky that everything went correctly. usually on the big ones "something" happens and they get free. this fish was very strong and kept diving under the boat trying to go deep. boy did she give me some super strong headshakes! good luck everyone that is going out and thanks for the congrats! i wonder how many casts i have made and how many hours i have put in trolling for this 50"? it is pretty sobering to think about! anyone notice the trolling motor in the water? it usually doesn't get too wet on my boat.

had a five fish morning fishing by myself and got my first ever measured 50"er! a front came through and bam i went 5 for 6 and left before 2pm. 4 of the fish came on the same lure including the big one. floating weeds were sort of an issue and water temp was 78 degrees. i took the fish out of the water for a pic b/c it was my first real 50 inch fish and i wanted a picture, all of the others never left the water and i know it would have been better not to lift it out but come on- i wanted a pic. right when i was ready to give up on this certain body of water it has given up a 48.5" and a 50" to me. when i saw the fish in the water as i was fighting it, it looked huge and i sort of got nervous but i got lucky and it was hooked well. thanks for letting me share my cool morning with you. so far- 13 muskies and 7 tigers on a Father's fishing schedule which means like once every 2 weeks if i am lucky. a person saw me fighting this fish and came over to grab a pic so that is where these first few came from.

some of the smaller ones.

i should have had more pics but when i went to take a picture of my big one the camera said memory card full. i panicked and just erased the last ones i had took to make room for more pics.

going back out tomarrow- have to be home by 10:30am so its conesus for me and chasing tigers. have been successful each time out so far so i need to keep the streak going! wanted to go to to the river or chaut- but that will have to wait.

good for you! looks nice and gold in the pic. congrats on the ski- those that size can be pretty scrappy, fight well? old man- do you still carry a tackle box?

i am guessing the Niagara by a fisherman that is decent and knowledgeable enough to keep the fish in the water so he knows good release.

i like the pic of the woman wearing the multi-colored flowered lay around here neck the best, forget about the eyes and the boat. looks like you guys have some slamming parties down there ray i am surprised you get any fishing/ boat work done.

sorry "on the lam" those are the new digital camo pants ray is modeling. sorry but ray IS the fashion police in his neck of the woods.

looks like good fishing to me- but to "slimey" he would think its boring! nice job.

nitro- where is your cross lake/ state ditch pics? we all see whats in their now with this nice picture- you have no excuses anymore.

all my action came in around 6fow if that helps.

would be the same thing as lime lake b/c the rest of us cant fish it.

i am jealous. after seeing this i am making plans for monday to hit the north end. larry are u fishing on monday also?

alot of people are p*ssed that they stock that lake and dont have a public launch.

good action last night. 2 tigers including my best at 35" and a small 27" on the phantom. 3 bass included. the smallest was around 3.5lbs and largest was about 5lbs. the bass took the jerkbaits also. started fishing @ 6:45 so i thought this was decent fishing.

isn't that lake (lime) impossible to launch a boat on? i hear its for locals only? know anything about the launch? yes nitro. gonna try in shallow. we'll see what happens. i am burned out on waneta already, and chaut is too far tonight. dying to go back to chaut- most likely i will avoid it this weekend but mon or tues i am taking the day off from work to troll the big lake after seeing larry's reports.

going out tonight for some tiger time.

nice catches! i want to go back to chautauqa fishing. its a good place for me!

nice

i posted this now b/c it coincides w/ the water temp we have now. funny how at different water depths he picks differant colors. something for me to think about. pink for the small perch in shallow and greys for the suckers out deeper.

i am thinking about hitting waneta less now that i am sort of upset of the situation down there. chaut is loaded w/ 40"ers and at waneta it is alot more tough to connect w/ one that size. i think next time out i am going back to chaut and will probally do 2x as many fish w/ a chance at an actual good one unlike waneta. i am getting burned out trying to educate the locals who dont give a rats ass about the fishery they have. i wish the state would consider another lake also to stock semi-locally to rochester. we all have seen what has happened in areas where they introduced them in minnesota. people travel and spend big money to get a shot at a big fish and this could happen here. its starting to look like there is only one real musky lake in NY. waneta get hammered so bad all summer i am suprised we catch anything. its a love/ hate thing i have going on right now. love waneta/ hate the locals. look at lake webster in indiana. it is a small lake like waneta but kicks out great #'s and big ones. difference is they take care of it. if we stocked them in the genny, they would have access to the lake and its the biggest trib other than the oswego on this side of lake o. would be neat to have them in there eating all the salmon. oh well- just a dream that will never come true. think of the looks you would get putting a steelie on a quick strike rig.

i first read that article a couple of years ago and have wanted to try what it says. sounds like real shallow and weedy but for some honkers and no nitro, i don't do pot.